Posts tagged Topa
-
Breakfast links: More affordable housing units approved for Crystal City
Arlington County Board approves bump in affordable housing at Crystal House; civic association opposes decision. Housing advocates organize to prevent narrowing of TOPA rights in DC. Montgomery County executive releases proposed budget that includes bump in affordable housing dollars. Keep reading…
-
As housing prices soar, Takoma Park tenants seek new solutions
The tenants of The Leeland are working with the City and their landlord to potentially create a new, more affordable and stable housing model for themselves and others. Keep reading…
-
Comparing DC and San Francisco’s tenant purchase laws
For nearly forty years DC was the only US city to have a tenant-friendly right of first refusal law. That changed in 2019 when San Francisco passed its own right of first refusal act. Despite some similarities, San Francisco’s law has a different process for refusing sales and a narrower range of possible outcomes. Keep reading…
-
One DC building, three TOPA processes
A building in DC was sold three times in the last 20 years. How did the Tenant Opportunity to Purchase Act work during each of those sales? Keep reading…
-
DC has never used this tool to purchase buildings for affordable housing. Will new changes put the program to use?
It’s been more than a decade since DC lawmakers sought to add the District Opportunity to Purchase Act as a new tool to preserve affordable housing in the city. But the resulting program has languished ever since, prompting the DC Council to approve legislative fixes last week to facilitate a role for the DC government in purchasing rental buildings and protecting tenants who might otherwise be displaced. Keep reading…
-
DC Council held a roundtable about how to get emergency rental assistance to residents. Here’s my testimony.
On February 22, Ward 1 Councilmember Brianne Nadeau held a roundtable on emergency rental assistance. The roundtable also addressed the goings-on of the mayor’s strike force on rental housing, a group of mayoral appointees tasked with delivering 10 recommendations by mid-March on how to “save” rental housing. by mid-March. Alex Baca, GGWash’s policy manager offered testimony at this meeting. Keep reading…
-
My building used a rent control loophole. Here’s what happened.
A combination of hardship petitions and voluntary agreements puts tenants in the uncomfortable position of negotiating away future affordability in order to protect themselves from substantial rent increases. Keep reading…
-
This proposed law could help DC tenants facing eviction fight back against dishonest landlords
The DC Council is back from its summer recess, and members are weighing legislation intended to strengthen tenant protections against illegal eviction. Keep reading…
-
Events: What makes for good or bad transit?
If you read this site, odds are that you, ahem, have opinions about transit. But do you have “An Opinionated Atlas of US Transit” with which to catalog all of your observations and ideas? Well, you could after you join the Coalition for Smarter Growth and Island Press for a talk with Christof Spieler. Keep reading…
-
TOPA doesn’t always work for small buildings, a housing fight with the National Shrine shows
DC's Tenant Opportunity to Purchase Act (TOPA) is designed to help tenants in multi-family apartment building stay put if their landlord decides to sell the property. Why is TOPA not working for tenants at four buildings by the Basilica of the National Shrine in Northeast DC? Keep reading…